Traffic concerns delay building of Keystone Center

East Stroudsburg University's Keystone Center continues to face a delay as university and borough officials iron out the fine details of the project.

CHRISTINA TATU

East Stroudsburg University's Keystone Center continues to face a delay as university and borough officials iron out the fine details of the project.

The Borough Planning Commission tabled the decision of whether to recommend the university's conditional use application Tuesday.

University officials need a conditional use approval before they can move forward with the project.

The conditional use is needed for land development projects involving one or more acres, said Borough Zoning and Codes Officer Marv Walton.

The Borough Planning Commission will make a recommendation whether to approve the conditional use.

It is ultimately up to the Borough Council to approve the application.

The next Borough Planning Commission meeting is June 10, and the Borough Council has scheduled a public hearing for ESU's conditional use application on June 24, Walton said.

Commission members say they need more information about how the university will deal with parking and traffic generated by the Keystone Center, including truck traffic during construction of the facility.

ESU officials originally hoped to begin demolition for the first phase of the project next month, but they can't proceed until they receive conditional use approval, said ESU Vice President of Administration and Finance, Ken Long.

Once the approval is granted, the university would have to go out to bid for the work, he said.

That could take between 60 to 90 days.

The demolition itself could be finished in as little as a month, ESU officials said during Tuesday night's meeting.

First phase demolition includes tearing down the existing Keystone Room and hotel, restaurant and tourism buildings to make way for construction of the student center portion of the project.

The $107 million, 269,000-square-foot, glass-front building will be on an 18.91-acre parcel of combined lots at the center of campus.

The project is expected to take place in two phases.

So far only $72 million has been released for the first phase of development, according to the State Department of General Services, which is overseeing the project and its funding.

When finished, it will feature a four-story student center and five-story library.

Earlier this month, DGS officials said funding for Phase II is hung up "pending local land development issues," namely road improvements necessary to accommodate increased traffic.

"If we don't get this thing going, this project isn't going to go anywhere because we won't be able to afford to bid it," said David Narkiewicz, assistant chief counsel for the DGS.

Construction prices continue to go up, and a certain amount of money was already dedicated for the project by the state, he explained.

"We understand it's just one building project, but it impacts the community overall," said commission member Karen Barwick. "None of us are trying to stop this project; we just want to make sure it goes through correctly."

Commission members Tuesday questioned whether ESU's current parking management plan is sufficient to support the Keystone Center.

The plan projects a total student population of 8,500 by 2026.

Long said that projection is optimistic.

In recent years, the university has lost about 11 percent of its student population, he said.

University officials plan to redo their university-wide parking management plan in the fall for a more accurate projection of student growth and the number of necessary spaces, Long said.

Commission members also had questions about who would pay for a 350-foot right-turn lane to be constructed along northbound Prospect Street.

ESU officials on Tuesday said they would petition local and state officials to help get the turning lane included as part of Pennsylvania Department of Transportation improvements planned for the Exit 308 interchange.

Currently, the lane is not included as part of that plan.

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